"Synthetic Substitution" is a 1973 song by Melvin Bliss. Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent company of Sunburst Records.^[1] However, after the song was sampled by Ultramagnetic MCs, many other artists followed suit, and eventually the song became one of the most sampled songs of all time.^[1]

Background

With the Exciters disbanded in 1971, Herb Rooney was out of a record deal. Having previously written for other artists,^[2] Rooney decided to continue down this path.

Meanwhile, Melvin Bliss had drifted from stage to stage since leaving the Army in 1957. Looking to boost his career prospects he visited a Queens concert hall intending to use it for self-promotion.^[1] While awaiting a meeting with the hall's owner, he encountered the mother of Herb Rooney and it emerged that he wanted a singer to record one of his compositions.^[1] After an informal discussion with Rooney himself, Bliss hit the studio to record it.^[1] Rooney had intended the A-Side to be "Reward" and thus presented it to Bliss first.^[3]

Subject matter

"Synthetic Substitution" is a scathing critique of what society would be like if it was entirely computerised,^[4] which towards the end of the song features the wailing of Bliss clinging onto the final few authentic remnants of his daily life.^[1] In 1986 the song's drums, provided by Bernard Purdie^[5] - were sampled in "Ego Trippin'" by Ultramagnetic MCs, spawning numerous other uses. It has since been sampled in over 800 songs.^[6]

"Synthetic Substitution" lends its name to a 2011 Earl Holder-produced documentary about Melvin Bliss, Synthetic Substitution: The Life Story of Melvin Bliss, which was released by Peripheral Enterprises.^[5] In a 2010 interview produced exclusively for its trailer, Bliss said that "[Herb Rooney and I] had no idea what the song was about; we just needed a B-side".^[7]

References